8.06.2011

GRANNY GOOSE, AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON THINGS

i spent the entire day milling about the mall, and, well, i am just going to have to come out and say it.

i think automatic flushers do more harm than good.

i bought huck some skinny jeans from the little girl's department at h&m, and also what i am calling my "blogging sweater," which is basically a poncho. it is made entirely of acrylic fibers and i could not be more pleased!

today i asked my sister what kinds of things they say about me when i'm not around. she pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side in thought. "dad always says, 'she's got an awful lot of shirley in her,'" she said.

well, i know what he means by that. shirley is my crazy granny goose (and my middle name namesake).

because, as my crazy shirley jean would say: "well it's just terrible, i have such needs."

after a very long afternoon of it, shirley jean came home with a lovely black coat (a purchase over which she stewed for 45 minutes), a black pencil skirt (which she bought in order to justify the coat, because, as she said in a scandalized whisper, "three hundred dollars and it doesn't even come with a skirt"), and a blue cardigan from forever 21 of all places, where she tried on no less than 10 pairs of pants. ("they were all too low on my bum," she said, horrified.)

on the way home in the car, huck opened his lungs and wailed to the heavens, and my dear crazy shirley jean appeased him by singing 'twinkle twinkle little star,' only with this delightful little change of lyric:

stargle stargle little twink/who you are the hell i think

later, shirley jean entertained us with a very detailed account of two lions that only killed people to eat them (?), only before she could get too far into it, monty (who has a horrible head cold) interrupted her with a terrible-sounding snarf, upon which time my crazy shirley jean had to halt ceremoniously in order to give him "the look."

this just in: "i have to get in a certain mindset before i wear these shoes," she is saying to my mother.

so yes, i know what my dad means when he says there is an awful lot of shirley in me. but i think that's okay.

i spent a good bit of time today looking at the two photos above. the one on the left is of my dad and his family (it's not hard to guess which one is my dad, my baby has that exact same face). it was probably taken about 1965. on the right is a photo of my mom's family, probably taken about the same time. (my mom is the youngest girl in the bottom center. shirley is in the cream suit.) i just love how my mom's family is all stylish and sleek, Mad Men style, while my dad's family looks like a bunch of hillbillies with their shirts untucked. a-lot-of-shirley-in-me or no, there is something about that rag tag army of cowlicks and white tee shirts that's really speaking to me lately.

Needlepoint?! I thought I was the only one!! Now when I stay up at night working on Christmas ornaments and watching Masterpiece Theatre with my cats, I'll feel a tiny bit less like an octogenarian and tell myself that you, too, are a "needlepointer". Also, I totally know the needlepoint high you're talking about! :)

I love being home with the fam! I'm in Hood River (about an hour east of Portland on the Columbia River) visiting my family right now and I'm so in love with the craziness! I hope you're having a fabulous time and I'm jeal of your poncho H&M find!!